Sweet Seduction

by Anthology

  Lauren set the bag on the floor and handed them to him. He took them and checked the door over before opening it and grabbing the envelope. “Stay here.”

  “Right,” she said stiffly. “I’ve got the drill down. You go. I wait.”

  He tilted her chin up with his finger. “I’ll make this go away, Lauren. I promise.”

  “Keep saying that,” she encouraged, confessing more than she should, more than she told herself just hours before that she would, but unable to stop herself. “It helps to hear it.”

  ***

  After Royce searched the apartment, he found Lauren in the hallway and gave her the ‘all clear’ to come inside. Standing at the kitchen table, he showed her the calendar sheet he’d already pulled from the envelope with an additional day marked off. This time there was a message made from cutout letters.

  Lauren frowned, reading it. “The countdown continues.” She shook her head. “There’s no ending date for me to have any idea where this is headed. It’s making me crazy.”

  “When you see that paper and hear the ticking clock, what’s the first thing, or things, that comes to your mind?”

  “This case. It’s a death penalty case. Well, there is this other...” She pursed her lips. “No. Never mind.”

  “What?” he asked. “Say it. It’s better to look at all options than not.”

  She leaned one hand on the table. “I hesitate to bring this up because I was second chair, but my first death penalty case, a guy named Sheridan, goes to execution soon.”

  “When?”

  “Ironically, two weeks after this new trial begins but it’s been stayed several times. It could easily be again.”

  “Who was the first chair?”

  “He’s dead, natural causes.”

  Royce stiffened at that news. “You’re sure it was natural?”

  “Not only did the man practically inhale his weight in grease every day, the phrase ‘smoke like a chimney’ was created in his honor. He had a heart attack. It’s a reach, but it’s what came to my mind on several occasions, so there it is.”

  Royce grabbed his phone and punched in Luke’s number, before giving his brother the Sheridan execution and case to research. He asked Lauren a couple of questions for Luke and then ended the call.

  “I hate that your brothers are being bothered with this,” Lauren said, her hands on the back of one of the chairs. “I hate you’re being bothered with this. I know you have work of your own to deal with.”

  “They don’t question what I need any more than I question what they need. We have each other’s backs.” He pulled her against him, her hips to his, his arms around her waist. “And I have yours.”

  Her hand settled on his chest and he doubted she knew just how much her touch scorched him, how much she affected him without even trying. “You barely know me,” she argued.

  “But I want to, which means keeping you safe so I get the chance.” She shivered and he ran his hands down her arms. “Why don’t I start a fire before we eat? I noticed you have wood.”

  “I’d like that,” she said. “I think I’ll go throw on some dry clothes.” She started to turn and paused. “Thank you.”

  “You don’t have to thank me.”

  “I do.” She hesitated. “Just...I do.” She rose up on her toes and pressed her lips to his.

  Royce knew she meant to make it a quick kiss and then escape, but she was tiny and soft in his arms and felt more perfect than anyone had in a very long time. It tormented him to know he was deceiving her but he shoved aside the reality he’d eventually have to face and wrapped his fingers around her neck, holding her to him. His tongue pressed into hers, stealing one sweet taste before he murmured, “Hurry back. I’m hungry.” And if she wasn’t clear that he wasn’t talking about sandwiches, she would be soon.

  Chapter Nine

  Royce watched Lauren disappear into her bedroom, thinking about the senator’s insistence that she would dismiss a threat, and put herself in harm’s way. Sure, he saw her caution about overreacting, but he couldn’t blame her in the role she was in with the DA. Most importantly thought, she wasn’t under-reacting either or pretending nothing was wrong. The senator clearly knew something he wasn’t saying, something he didn’t want Lauren to know.

  Royce headed to the front door and unzipped his bag and replaced his wet Yankees t-shirt with a dry white one on his way to the door. He had Luke on the line the instant he was in the hallway. “Senators can’t give stays of execution,” Royce said. “I get that, but-”

  “They can influence them,” Luke finished for him. “I’m already on it. I’m trying to find any connection between the senator and the Sheridan case, be it past or present, or both.”

  “You mean I’m trying,” came Blake’s voice in the background. “And I’m already on it. Apparently, you’re taking all the credit.”

  Luke grimaced at Blake’s comment and continued speaking to Royce. “I’ve recruited help. While Blake works the Sheridan angle, I’m working on anything and everything the senator has touched in the past year. Are you going to tell him about the phone calls and the calendars Lauren is getting?”

  “Not yet,” Royce said. “Let’s see what we come up with first.”

  “Exactly my thought,” Luke agreed. “This whole secrecy thing just doesn’t add up.”

  “Agreed,” Royce said, glancing at the caller ID as his phone beeped. “Speak of the devil, the senator is calling me. Text me when you find something out.” He ended the call and flipped over to the next. “This is Royce.”

  “Update, son. What is happening with my daughter?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m trying to find out,” he said. “And it would be easier if we told her what is going on.”

  The senator grunted. “Absolutely not.”

  Royce ran a hand through his hair. “She is going to hate us both when she finds out we didn’t tell her.”

  “Then don’t let her find out,” he said bitingly. “Where is she now?”

  “She’s safe.”

  “Translate that to a detailed assurance.”

  “I’m with her, out of her hearing range.”

  “Well done,” he said. “I’ve got to head to a meeting. I’ll check in with you tomorrow.”

  “Have you?” The line went dead.

  Royce dropped the phone to stare at it in disbelief. Damn it to hell, he’d hung up. And without one single question about the progress on finding out who was behind the letters or what the lab had found out. More and more, something didn’t add up.

  ***

  Lauren returned, having dried her hair, dressed in black sweats, a tee, and slipper socks, to find Royce stoking a fire that seemed to be on its way to a nice blaze.

  He rotated on his heels from where he squatted, apparently hearing her approach, his gaze hotter than the fire as it traveled a path up and down her body and settled on her t-shirt. He laughed, a deep rumble from his chest. Damn, she loved his laugh. “Lawyers have more fun?” he asked.

  “Julie got it for me since I always tell her blondes have more fun. I told her the shirt proves nothing.” She motioned to the kitchen. ”I’ll grab the drinks. I’m starving.”

  A few minutes later, they both sat on the floor with their laptops at the ready, their Reubens on plates. The fire crackled and rain splattered against the window.

  Lauren took a bite of her sandwich and sighed. “Either it’s good or I’m just really, really hungry.”

  “It’s good,” he agreed. “I haven’t had one of these in a long time.” He opened the container with his cheesecake and took a bite. “It’s good, too.”

  “I’ve never seen anyone eat dessert with their meal instead of after.”

  “It’s better than before, right?”

  “I suppose it is,” she agreed and found herself considering him a moment. “You know, you really aren’t what I expected.”

  “You said that before, the other night before you fell asleep. This time you’r
e not getting out of an explanation.”

  “You’re just...different.”

  “Different from other men you’ve known? From the politicians you work with?”

  “Everyone else around me. I’m surprised you took the state advisor job. It doesn’t seem like you to want to deal with the politics of things.”

  “I tolerate the politics because I’m able to influence decisions that impact the safety of the public. I worked some pretty intense post 9/11 FBI operations. I don’t ever want the people of this country, this city, to see 9/11 happen again. And as I suspect you have done, I made the decision to grin and bear what I had to, to make an impact, or at least try. Frankly, I‘m shocked you aren’t working for your father’s law firm.”

  She took a sip of her drink and set it down. “My father is all about money and power. That’s just not who I am. It wasn’t who my mother was either. Looking back, I think she chose to be a professor over a practicing lawyer to avoid the differences between her and my father.” She opened her cheesecake and took a bite. “Oh, that’s good.” She shoved her sandwich aside.

  “Now look who’s eating out of order,” he teased.

  “I ate half my sandwich,” she said. “That’s enough for me. You want the other half?”

  “I thought you’d never ask,” he said and grabbed her plate, setting his now empty one aside. Then he surprised her by asking, “Didn’t I read you were engaged at some point?”

  Her fork stilled in her mouth a moment before she nodded and set it down, her gaze fixing on the orange flames of the fire. “Yeah. I was.”

  Royce slid a finger under her chin. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”

  “You're not. It’s just not a happy subject.”

  “He hurt you.”

  “I caught him in bed with another woman.” She held up a hand. “And don’t do the sympathy thing. After I was over the initial shock of his betrayal, I was actually relieved.” Lauren turned to face him, leaning her elbow on the couch, her legs curled to her side. “I wasn’t happy with him. I knew long before we broke up that he didn’t want me. He wanted control of my father’s law firm. By him taking it, I didn’t have to deal with my father’s nagging for me to take over.”

  “He hates it,” she said. “And he really hates this case I’m about to go to trial with, because the defendant is playing the battered woman card and I’m being painted as a monster. He’s been getting hate mail and phone calls over it.”

  “Have you seen any of the mail?”

  “I don’t want to see it. I get plenty of my own. It’s part of the job. But that’s just it. It’s my job, not his. I’m helping victims fight for justice and that feels good. I hope my ex stays with my father’s firm forever and the two of them live happily ever after making tons of money. That’s not what motivates me.”

  “Wait. Are you saying he still works there?”

  “My ex and my stepbrother are controlling partners.”

  “I’d have kicked his ass and wiped the floor with him and then thrown his stuff out the door with him. I can’t believe your father let him stay.”

  “It’s business.”

  “It’s family.”

  Her chest tightened. “Not everyone has the kind of bond with their family you seem to have.”

  He studied her a long moment and then pushed the table away from them. He scooted back to sit beside her, his back against the couch before pulling her legs over his lap. Awareness rushed through her, and something else, something warm and right, like she’d never felt with another man.

  “I owe you an apology,” he confessed, his hands settling on her legs.

  “An apology?” She laughed. “For eating my sandwich? For being bossy by nature? Because I can’t imagine what else you have to apologize about at this point in our short relationship.”

  “I judged you by a stereotype before I met you. I thought you were the pretty, spoiled senator’s daughter. And now, more than ever, I not only know how unfair that was, I know how much it eats you alive.”

  “Thank you,” she said, moved by his honesty. “I appreciate that more than you can know, but if you’re apologizing for your assumption, then I have to apologize for mine. I thought you were an arrogant ladies’ man. Single, good looking, in your thirties, with two different women at the two different functions I saw you at.”

  His chest expanded with an inhalation before he exhaled. “I haven’t been much on serious relationships but I was engaged once, right when I joined the agency. It was the wrong time, the wrong situation, and I was the wrong man for her. I was high on my job, and she wanted me home when I wanted to catch the next bad guy. The deeper and more dangerous my work became, the more I saw the writing on the wall. You put bad guys behind bars, they become your enemies and you become dangerous cargo to the people you love.”

  “Well, I guess I’ve proven I’m dangerous cargo,” she said, a shiver chasing a path up her spine. “And I guess being alone is a small price for fighting for the innocent.”

  “You're not alone now,” he said softly, brushing his fingers down her cheek, sending a tingle of electricity through her body. “I’m here and no one is going to scare me away.”

  “Have you met my father?”

  He laughed. “Not even your father.”

  “We'll see about that one.”

  “Yeah,” he said. “We will. I’m not going anywhere unless you make me.” He turned to his side to face her. “I know I said this before, but I’m going to say it again. I’m not here because of the threats. If they didn’t exist, I’d still be here, if you’d have me. I’m here for you, Lauren. I’m here because there is something about you I can’t escape, and I don’t even want to try.”

  The rain pelted against the windows, the fire crackled in the fireplace. Electricity sparked in the air, intimacy thickening with it.

  “I’m glad you’re here, and not because of the threats.” She hesitated. “Okay, maybe I’m a little glad you’re here because of the threats. I’m rattled, Royce. I don’t know why; it’s not like me, but I am. And I wouldn’t tell anyone else that, but I am. And I feel like I can tell you that without it becoming everyone else’s knowledge.”

  “You know what I think?” he asked, lowering his head slowly, his breath warm, teasing her with the promise of intimacy. “I think you need something else to think about.” His lips touched hers, a soft caress that traveled her nerve endings. Her nipples tightened, and heat pooled low in her belly.

  Nerves fluttered in her stomach, with the awareness of where this was going, but his tongue, his hands, his touch, drew her deeper into the fog of desire. She lost herself in the moment, savoring the feel on him, a soft sound of pleasure escaping her lips as his tongue swept against hers. He deepened the contact and she wrapped her arms around his neck. His hand traveled her back, scorching her with heat, melding her closer. She could feel the desire expand between them, consume them, and leave her with only him.

  Chapter Ten

  Royce pulled Lauren into his lap to straddle him, the V of her body pressing against the thick ridge of his erection. He wanted this woman, wanted her like he had not wanted in a very long time. Wanted in a way like he’d never wanted. Her hair was soft on his face, and that damn vanilla and honey scent was driving him wild. So much of what she had told him had twisted him in knots. Her ex cheating on her explained the insecurity he’d seen in her, the fear of intimacy.

  He drank her in, kissing her, making love to her with his tongue, and vowing to be the man who showed her just how sexy she truly was.

  “You’re beautiful,” he murmured against her mouth. “And your ex was a fool.”

  “Royce, I-”

  He swallowed her words, working his hands under her shirt to her soft skin, not allowing her to reject his words, showing her how much he meant them. She reached behind him and tugged loose his hair, twining her fingers into it. Her touch was like silk and fire at the same time, soothing him even as she ignited his hunger.
He touched her, filled his hands with her high, full breasts and shoved down her bra to tease her plump nipples.

  She shifted on top of him, arching against his cock, and he moaned with the ache and pleasure that crashed into him. He tugged at her shirt. “Take it off.”

  She leaned back and stared down at him, and he saw vulnerability wash over her face. He wrapped his fingers around her neck and pulled her mouth to his. “You. Are. Beautiful. And I want to feel you next to me.” He reached over his head and tugged his shirt off, trying to make her feel more comfortable by undressing first.

  Her gaze swept his chest, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip. “You’re beautiful,” she said, her hands splaying over his pecs, his arms.

  He kissed her, hard and fast, caressing her sides, her breasts, before easing her shirt up again. “Take it off. Let me feel you next to me.”

  She pulled it over her head and tossed it and he cupped her breasts, teasing her nipples even as he unhooked the front clasp of her bra.

  Her lashes fluttered, her hands covering his. He rolled her to the ground and eased her legs apart, settling his hips between her legs and going down on top of her.

  Their eyes locked and held, the connection, the desire he felt with Lauren, expanding inside him, feeding a possessive need to pleasure her, to protect her, to hold her. He kissed her, trailed lips down her neck, taking his time until he lapped at one perky nipple, and suckled.

  The soft sound she made, the twine of her fingers in his hair, worked a number on him. His zipper stretched, his cock throbbing uncomfortably. He lapped at the other nipple, scraped it lightly with his teeth, and then began a downward path to dip his tongue into her belly button, skimming her pants down her legs. He raised to his knees and pulled them off.

  He smiled as he traced the dark triangle of hair, dipping his fingers between her thighs, and caressing the silky wet proof of how aroused she was. “No panties?”

  She lifted up on her elbows, her cheeks flushed, pleasure etched on her face as he dipped a finger inside her, stroked her. “I don’t like panty lines,” she murmured.